full[er]-featured light stack?

Posted by Jeff Frontz on June 12, 2008, 2:43 pm

Has anyone run across a light stack (like something that would be on
top of a piece of heavy equipment on a factory floor to tell the
operator that there's a problem that needs addressing) that
- has multiple lights of relatively standard colors (e.g., read,
yellow, green, blue)
- allows each light to be independently controlled (on/off/
flashing)
- allows control via RS-232 or USB (with the latter either
emulating an RS-232 connection via an internal converter or having
Linux 2.6.23+ support)
- has audio output (audio alarm)
- has software volume control for the audio
- (bonus) allows programmable audio files for driving the audio
output

I know Patlight makes some stuff that comes close, but they don't seem
to have software volume control or RS-232/USB support.

Anyone seen anything that would fit the bill?

Thanks
Jeff

Posted by John Nagle on June 13, 2008, 2:18 am

Jeff Frontz wrote:

> Has anyone run across a light stack (like something that would be on
> top of a piece of heavy equipment on a factory floor to tell the
> operator that there's a problem that needs addressing) that
> - has multiple lights of relatively standard colors (e.g., read,
> yellow, green, blue)
> - allows each light to be independently controlled (on/off/
> flashing)
> - allows control via RS-232 or USB (with the latter either
> emulating an RS-232 connection via an internal converter or having
> Linux 2.6.23+ support)
> - has audio output (audio alarm)
> - has software volume control for the audio
> - (bonus) allows programmable audio files for driving the audio
> output
>
> I know Patlight makes some stuff that comes close, but they don't seem
> to have software volume control or RS-232/USB support.
>
> Anyone seen anything that would fit the bill?

Here's a selection of light towers:

    http://www.signaworks.com/tower/

Some have audio alarms.

Here's one that talks DeviceNet:

    http://www.signaworks.com/tower/?dnp

You can get devices (usually called "Master Simulators") which
will connect USB to DeviceNet.

                John Nagle

Posted by saurabh9 on June 13, 2008, 9:33 pm

> Has anyone run across a light stack (like something that would be on
> top of a piece of heavy equipment on a factory floor to tell the
> operator that there's a problem that needs addressing) that
> - has multiple lights of relatively standard colors (e.g., read,
> yellow, green, blue)
> - allows each light to be independently controlled (on/off/
> flashing)
> - allows control via RS-232 or USB (with the latter either
> emulating an RS-232 connection via an internal converter or having
> Linux 2.6.23+ support)
> - has audio output (audio alarm)
> - has software volume control for the audio
> - (bonus) allows programmable audio files for driving the audio
> output
> I know Patlight makes some stuff that comes close, but they don't seem
> to have software volume control or RS-232/USB support.
> Anyone seen anything that would fit the bill?
> Thanks
> Jeff

Without the audio part, one interesting thing I also found in this
context was http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/06/blinkmsmart_led_now_in_=
th.html

Posted by JosephKK on June 14, 2008, 3:01 pm

On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:43:39 -0700 (PDT), Jeff Frontz

>Has anyone run across a light stack (like something that would be on
>top of a piece of heavy equipment on a factory floor to tell the
>operator that there's a problem that needs addressing) that
> - has multiple lights of relatively standard colors (e.g., read,
>yellow, green, blue)
> - allows each light to be independently controlled (on/off/
>flashing)
> - allows control via RS-232 or USB (with the latter either
>emulating an RS-232 connection via an internal converter or having
>Linux 2.6.23+ support)
> - has audio output (audio alarm)
> - has software volume control for the audio
> - (bonus) allows programmable audio files for driving the audio
>output
>I know Patlight makes some stuff that comes close, but they don't seem
>to have software volume control or RS-232/USB support.
>Anyone seen anything that would fit the bill?
>Thanks
>Jeff

Might i suggest that you take a look at mil-std-1742? It is available
for free, just search a bit.

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